KELLY CUP FINALS: Everblades have passed late-season chemistry test

After his team spent all day Saturday traveling, Florida coach Greg Poss talks about his team's plans for Saturday and Sunday in advance of Monday's Game 1 against the Las Vegas Wranglers.

Scott McIntyre/Staff
The Florida Everblades celebrate after scoring against the Kalamazoo Wings in game five of the ECHL Eastern Conference Finals at Germain Arena on May 5, 2012

ESTERO - REMEMBER WHEN

While he's technically been retired for two years, Ernie Hartlieb will always be an Everblade. This year, he suited up for three games, making him the only player to play for the team in 2011-12 and 2004-05, the last time Florida made the Kelly Cup Finals.

While things were much different then — that was the lockout season and the minor leagues were stocked with NHL-caliber players — Hartlieb said he sees similarities between this year's team and the '05 squad.

"This year's team has an incredible talent," Hartlieb said. "We had guys that would go on to play in the NHL and I think you'll see guys from this year's team move up in the future."

At the time, Hartlieb was 25, and even though Florida lost to Trenton, he assumed he'd get another shot at a Cup. But he was wrong.

"When you're young and you get there you figure you're going to get another chance," Hartlieb said. "But sometimes you never know, so the guys have to make sure they relish it."

Hartlieb, who serves as a color analyst during home radio broadcasts, said that now he considers himself a fan of the team, just like anyone else. But while he rarely misses a home game, he said there will be plenty of familiar faces at Germain Arena for the team's home games in the series.

"Guys that still live here are asking me about the team every day," Hartlieb said. "And I know other guys are coming into town to watch them play. We all want them to finally bring the Cup to Florida."

LIGHT THE LAMPE

Las Vegas Wranglers center Eric Lampe is leading the ECHL in playoff scoring and is a big reason why his team has made it to the Finals to face to the Everblades. So why does his name sound so familiar? It's because Lampe was once a prolific playoff scorer for the Everblades.

Two years ago, fresh out of Quinnipiac University, Lampe signed with the Everblades. He played in five postseason games and scored three goals. Then he vanished. Even though Florida was still in the playoffs, Lampe left Florida to go back to school.

The next season, he followed Malcolm Cameron from Florida to Elmira, must to chagrin of Florida's Greg Poss.

"He's someone I tried really hard to bring back when I first got here," Poss said. "It didn't work out but he's been playing well ever since."

Even though Florida held Lampe's rights at the time, the Everblades allowed him to sign a two-way deal with Syracuse, Elmira's affiliate.

While the true details of Lampe's exit are still hazy — Cameron and the Everblades still disagree on the events surrounding his original signing with the team — Lampe has shown his talent.

He was an ECHL All-Star last year and had 67 points in just 52 games this year. Now the question is whether he can lead his current squad past the team that gave him his first professional gig.

Pretty much every team in every sport talks about it. Teams that don't have it want it and the teams that do have it often credit it for success.

It's been the magic ingredient for some teams championship runs, but also been the downfall of obvious favorites.

It's the often elusive "chemistry."

But how is it developed among a team? And more importantly, how has it helped the Florida Everblades get to the Kelly Cup Finals for the first time in seven years?

Florida's players and coaches say the start of the team's good chemistry actually began while the team was mired in a losing streak.

From Jan. 20 to Feb. 9, Florida lost 10 of 11 games. According to head coach Greg Poss, his pleas for improved play weren't enough to turn things around. It was the players who ultimately had to decide how they wanted their season to end.

"In that losing streak, that's where our team was built," Poss said. "We got sick of losing and guys realized that they to change their attitudes and their roles for us to be successful."

Players that were used to being only scoring threats had to learn to play a more balanced game. Players who had never played on the penalty kill in their careers were laying out to block shots.

As the calendar turned from February to March, the coveted chemistry was finally developing.

"We had a players meeting and we really just put it all out there," Florida defenseman Ryan Donald said. "Guys who usually don't talk much spoke up and everyone aired their concerns and we really just realized that this was the group we were going to have and we knew we could play better."

Florida breezed through the month of March, going 12-3 and climbing from No. 8 to No. 5 in the Eastern Conference standings.

But with the start of the playoffs came more challenges. Both of the team's NHL affiliates failed to qualify for the playoffs, as did one of the team's AHL affiliates.

That meant an influx of new, talented players, who stood to take ice time from players contributing to the hottest team in the league.

One of those players was Justin Shugg, who played just 11 regular-season games with Florida before being sent back by AHL Charlotte just prior to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"Being the new guy in when a team is already playing well is tough," Shugg said at the time. "I'm just trying to blend in and not mess with the chemistry the guys have going."

But the addition of Shugg, as well as defenseman Joe Sova, Ryan McGinnis and Sebastien Piche led to more lineup changes for Florida.

Players like Scott Pitt and Rylan Galiardi, who were among the top scorers for Florida all season, found themselves watching from the stands rather than playing.

However, instead of complaining, the players who have been healthy scratches have been competing every day in practice. Poss said that without a "buy-in" from every player on the roster, the team wouldn't in its current position.

"If the guys that aren't playing go south, the whole team can, too," Poss said. "Those players have accepted their roles, even though it means not playing, which is the hardest thing in the world during this time of year."

Donald says the players on the team consider each other friends as well as teammates, leading to personal accountability from fellow players, not just coaches.

"We've got a really good group of guys here," Donald said. "… We all want to win and the players who aren't playing know if they're negative it's going to bring everyone down, so we're all trying to enjoy this run."

With the Kelly Cup Finals beginning Monday, many of the close-knit players also know that this series will likely be the last time they state together as a group, and they don't want to let the opportunity slip away.

"You never know what's going to happen in the offseason," forward David Rutherford said. "We love playing together and we wanted to push it as far as we can. Now that we have we're focused on the final goal, winning together."